The Guardian newspaper published this intriguing article about how the Habana Hilton, the hotel-casino that had just opened in 1958, became the symbol for Fidel Castro’s dismantling of America’s dominant position in Cuba when he took it over as his headquarters in early 1959.

Habana Hilton upon completion in 1958
The article also generously includes quotes from my Havana book.
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About Peter Moruzzi
Author and historian Peter Moruzzi is passionate about the middle decades of the 20th century: its nightlife, classic dining, and architecture.
Born in Concord, Massachusetts and raised in Hawaii, Moruzzi graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and later attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. In 1999, he founded the Palm Springs Modern Committee (PS ModCom) an architectural preservation group. He is the author of "Havana Before Castro: When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground," "Palm Springs Holiday: A Vintage Tour From Palm Springs to the Salton Sea," "Classic Dining:Discovering America's Finest Mid-Century Restaurants," "Palm Springs Paradise: Vintage Photographs from America's Desert Playground," and "Greetings from Los Angeles."